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 Rather than pick winners and losers among investors who hold
roughly $70 billion of Puerto Rican debt, the Republican plan
envisions leaving key questions to a newly-created board, according
to legislative sources familiar with the work. Republicans control
both houses of Congress and so the party leaders often write the
first draft of legislation.
Under the proposal, White House and congressional leaders would
appoint a board of financial experts to arbitrate
politically-charged questions like whether bonds issued by utilities
or even the island's government should be written down.
"We expect to have a framework that protects taxpayers and restores
solvency to the island," said Parish Braden, spokesman for the
Natural Resources Committee that is writing legislation in the House
of Representatives.
A crucial issue for lawmakers is whether Puerto Rico will have a
clear path to restructure debt through the courts, in a process akin
to U.S. bankruptcy, if the new board could not facilitate a deal
among stakeholders.
The U.S. Treasury Department has long called for a debt
restructuring for Puerto Rico. So have Congressional Democrats, and
Puerto Rico's leaders.
 A spokesman for the Treasury Department said officials were
"encouraged by the increased legislative activity," but declined to
speculate on the Republican legislation that was expected to be
finished before the end of the month.
And while Republicans will write the first draft of the rescue bill,
Democrats in Congress and the White House will have a say as
legislation moves toward approval from President Barack Obama.
On Monday, New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez, a Democrat, proposed
putting roughly $45 billion in unfunded pension liabilities at the
top of the list of creditors.
Some creditors are concerned where they might rank with such a move
and many oppose any provision that would allow the island to file
for bankruptcy. Municipal bond markets would be roiled if Puerto
Rico were cleared, some Republican lawmakers have argued.
"These are complicated issues and Congress needs to empower people
qualified to handle them," said one staffer working on the plan.
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The 3.5 million residents of Puerto Rico may face a reduction of
"essential government services" like public safety and health care
if there is no fix before the next debt payments in May, Puerto Rico
Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla told Congress last year.
The Menendez plan would restructure all of Puerto Rico's debt,
establishing a chief financial officer, a "Fiscal Stability and
Reform Board" and require the island's governor to develop a 5-year
fiscal plan.
If Puerto Rico accepts the plan Menendez proposes then an automatic
12-month stay on debt payments would go into effect, after which a
restructuring plan with creditors would be crafted.
The plan would see that pensions would be paid before the island's
General Obligation debt, which is typically the first in line for
payment.
Padilla praised Menendez's plan for providing tools needed to stave
off the immediate impact of the crisis while helping to stabilize
the economy.
Orrin Hatch, the Utah Republican who is chairman of the powerful
Senate Finance Committee, swatted away Menendez's proposals.
"While I have yet to see the full legislative text of the proposals,
from what I’ve read, Senate Democrats appear to want to move the
goal posts on broad debt restructuring," Hatch said in a statement
emailed to Reuters.
(Reporting By Nick Brown in San Juan and Patrick Rucker in
Washington; Editing by Daniel Bases and Diane Craft)
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